


Affection

by nfra3711



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: First Dates, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-10
Updated: 2014-07-10
Packaged: 2018-02-08 06:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1930524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nfra3711/pseuds/nfra3711
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kenya is a very affectionate person. Zaizen, not so much. The idea of them getting together is probably bizarre enough, but somehow, it will all work out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Affection

Kenya was one affectionate person, and it wasn’t like Zaizen didn’t know that. On the total opposite, he had always noticed, always known. How come he didn’t, when their considerably unusual friendship had lasted for years and years, when Zaizen had all the opportunities to discover and watch every single one of Kenya’s habits unveiled right under his nose, habits that he didn’t know the other had before.

They had been living under the same roof for a couple of years now, in a quite spacious flat which rent they shared equally every month. At first it was just Zaizen, as he had always preferred the independence and solitude living alone had to offer him. But then Kenya tagged along, nesting himself comfortable in the little crib, and asked the a year younger male if he could start living there, with him, payment included and chores divided evenly guaranteed. Zaizen was skeptical, of course, as Kenya had a way more promising place to reside in, with him and the entire family living off the medical field, and Kenya himself rising to be one of the most skilled surgeons in town. Kenya had shrugged it off, telling him that he was getting bored of the family home he was living in, that he wanted to try something new and it wouldn’t hurt to try living on his own (well, almost) for once, given that he never for once lived separately from his parents even one time. Zaizen still wasn’t sure. He hated to give up the beautiful silent nights and peaceful early mornings where he could just tune his choice of music on while making his first cup of coffee, with no one bothering him and telling him what to do. But he had to admit, the nights did get a little bit too silent sometimes, and the peaceful mornings were getting odd and boring and just dull with him on his own alone with his music, with so much space to use. Plus, him having to pay only half of his usual tab did mean that his monthly saving would increase significantly and he would have a lot more cash to spare for new sets of headphones and CDs and a few of those game subscriptions that kept going on more and more expensive by day.

So he agreed, given that Kenya would behave and not cause him unnecessary problems, that he would make sure to keep his pet iguana in line and not have it randomly jumping off residents’ heads, then it would be fine, should be fine. Zaizen might not know Oshitari Kenya in a very much personal level, but he was confident he at least knew him enough to be able to tolerate him whenever he wasn’t working his ass off at the hospital.

It didn’t take too long for Zaizen to notice how much of a terrible luck his used-to-be senior had when it came to relationships. Every single month, if not week, sometimes in a count of days, Kenya would come home from work in the evening with the biggest, goofiest grin on his face and bug the hell out of Zaizen until he made sure the younger male had his attention off the computer screen and both his ears off the earphones. Zaizen couldn’t care less and he wasn’t scared to make it show as obvious as possible in his facial expressions, but Kenya wouldn’t look offended by his attempts at all. He sat Zaizen down and would pat the table (well, technically slamming his palms on it) between them many times, each time harder than before with the excited child look plastered on his face; ambitiously telling him that he had gotten himself a girlfriend (or sometimes boyfriend); that it was a beautiful and magical moment that felt like true love and he was sure it was one that would last the eternity.

Zaizen would only scoff and roll his eyes away. It was always like that; Kenya running in the moment he got home, breaking the happy news with the utmost adorable glint in his eyes, showing off a few selfies he had taken with his new significant other that very same day, boast about them for the next few days non stop, each with the same overjoyed look on his face, and then in the end, he would slump down onto the floor the moment he passed the doorway, practically crawling his way into the flat, in tears, whining in the ugliest, most annoying voice Zaizen had ever heard; he got dumped, again.

He had always told Kenya not to fall for the same thing every time, but somehow, Kenya always found a way to mess it up. Zaizen wasn’t sure if Kenya was just far too kind to reject people, or if he was that dumb that he couldn’t tell the difference between people only wanting to get into his pants (and pockets, those damn rich Oshitari boys) and people actually being interested in him, or he was just that desperate for romance. It could be any of the three, but Zaizen found each of them ludicrously stupid.

But Kenya never gave up. It only took him a few hours or at worst a few sobbing nights accompanied with a lot of booze to finally get back on his feet again. He would never stop at anything to find true love, he always said, as he rose up from the couch with the stupidest, most useless determination on his face, before leaving for the day once more. Zaizen could only shrug, as much as he thought the older boy was being completely, idiotically reckless, he had no control whatsoever over Kenya’s life, or what he wanted to do or who he wanted to lay in bed with. He couldn’t lie, it got painful sometimes, for some reason, to see Kenya repeatedly go to get crushed in his own accord, to see him leaving only to return at night being either wasted or in tears, or as a gloomy dark cloud and rains that Zaizen couldn’t stand watching. He couldn’t stand it, really, that Kenya didn’t understand, that Kenya couldn’t see that that wasn’t going to work, was never going to work. He wasn’t going to find ‘ _true love_ ’ out there, hell, it didn’t even exist.

 There were times when he wished Kenya would stop looking at chances that weren’t meant for him, that would only grant him more pain and suffering. He wished that Kenya would one day realize that his very chance was always been there for him, right here, cause, who would serve as his ‘true love’ better other than someone who had dealt with all his weird antics and complete shit ever since they were mere middle schoolers?

Of course, Zaizen wasn’t talking about himself. Nope, not a chance. That was dumb.

But then days turned, weeks went by, it had been a month, closing to two, and ever since there was no single time where Kenya would run in home pulling Zaizen away from his computer desk. In fact, nights had been very much peaceful, Kenya had been obedient, had been surprisingly calm and well-mannered, had been ‘tolerable’, if Zaizen could put it into a word. Zaizen honestly found it a little weird, and he would vaguely ask if Kenya was doing okay, if work was fine and if any of his workmates were bothering him. The older male would always tell him that everything was perfect, and he would rather it stay that way.

It didn’t ease any of Zaizen’s concerns, but very much the opposite. He always tried not to overwhelm the other with questions, but he couldn’t help but wonder every now and then. There were times when Kenya would tell him that it ‘wasn’t like him’ to care about his affairs. Zaizen would look away and mumble a tiny reply that it wasn’t like Kenya to be so decent.

So when that one particular evening came, that one not-so-ordinary night where Zaizen half-jokingly told Kenya that if he was so free, he probably should date him instead of chasing after people he barely knew, that night where Kenya surprisingly said yes, Zaizen was all sorts of conflicted.

It wasn’t like he was playing around, it wasn’t like he wasn’t serious; the tiny crush he always had towards the older male ever since they were in school kept on growing by time, and yet he never had any guts to bring it up— Thinking that it would worth nothing, that Kenya saw him as nothing but that adorable little underclassman back at middle school, as a good friend tops if Zaizen was lucky, no matter how he thought about it, that was all there was to it to their relationship. Friendly and simple and straight to the point.

But when Kenya had said yes, when in turn, he told Zaizen that he liked him a lot, ever since they were in middle school, ever since they used to play tennis together, ever since the awkward, strange and unpolished tiny sexual tension that always lingered around in the air every time they caught each other’s eyes during practice, during lunch time, ever since the little shoulder brushing made as they walked home side by side every afternoon— It all seemed, sounded surreal.

Of course, even then, Zaizen still didn’t expect too much. Kenya could start getting tired of him after a few weeks, probably, a month top, he’d give it that. It wasn’t like Zaizen was hoping for something more serious than that, nope, not at all. That was a bizarre statement.

He knew Kenya was always a very affectionate person, but just then he realized to what extent his affections could go to. That day Kenya asked him to go outside, something they did ever so often, only this time it was slightly different, Kenya reminded him before they walked out the flat, and Zaizen could just give him a look;

“It’s our first date,” he said.

“If you say it that way, then we go on a date every single day.” Zaizen shrugged, unsure if he liked the idea he just proposed himself.

Kenya tilted his head to the side, then to the opposite, pondering over something that didn’t even need thinking. Zaizen sighed again, and was about to walk pass him before Kenya added;

“But we’re dating now. Hikaru’s my boyfriend.”

Despite them having been in first name basis for a long time, the way Kenya said his name sent tingles up Zaizen’s spine. He wasn’t sure what about it that made him feel all weird and fluttery and simply out of the world, but all he knew now was that he wanted to hear it again.

Kenya handed him his hand, and Zaizen just looked at it, blinking, as if it was something complicated to comprehend.

“Hand,” Kenya said, look dead serious it almost made Zaizen laugh. “I want to hold your hand.”

The younger stared at him, halfly looking for the tiniest hints showing that Kenya was only trying to embarrass him. But there was none. There was a subtle shade of red across his face, a warm tone that kept getting more and more apparent as seconds went by. Before Zaizen realized it Kenya’s face was already a perfect color of crimson and he started throwing a fit.

“Well!?” He pouted, nervously biting his lower lip as if scared he’d get rejected. “Are you gonna let me hold your hand or not?!”

“Oh,” Zaizen finally replied, look a little confused. “Yeah, sure.”

He gave him his hand and Kenya didn’t waste any second to grab it, almost clenching on it if he wasn’t careful enough. His palm was hot and sweaty and trembling, or so Zaizen had noticed, which made him glance up to look at the brunet’s face. It didn’t seem like him agreeing to hold hands had ceased Kenya’s uneasiness, in fact, it just made him jumpier and his red face funnier.

Zaizen laughed, Kenya quickly responded with a growl.

“Don’t laugh.”

“You’re taking this way too seriously, _senpai_.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Through the day, Kenya would make a lot of obscure requests that Zaizen couldn’t really get around with (obscure, because Zaizen really wasn’t used of these sort of things). He said he wanted ice cream to start the day, so off they went to the nearest parlor. When Zaizen was about to place his order, Kenya stopped him, saying that he wanted to try sharing one of those ridiculously big (and sweet!) strawberry parfaits that couple seemed to always have. Zaizen was going to refuse, but looking at the huge puppy looking face Kenya was making, really, how could he?

And then Kenya brought him to the movies (seriously, why did Kenya even think he could take the “boyfriend” role, and why was Zaizen letting him do that, it was unclear). It was that one Sci-Fi movie Zaizen had always wanted to watch, so that was one thing, but when the first thing Kenya asked after sitting down in their seats was whether he could hold Zaizen’s hand again, the younger grimaced. He just wanted a good movie and a nice bucket of popcorn. Why this, oh _why this_?

After the movie, in an attempt to make their “first date” feel a bit less awkward, Zaizen suggested they hit the arcade. Of course, they both always loved spending the afternoon playing games and forgetting time, so that was an easy argument. However, instead of hitting the usual car racing games, or the multiplayer fighting ones, or the shooting games, or the stupid DDR Kenya had an unbelievable love towards, or those Guitar Hero games that Zaizen just adored and Kenya simply didn’t have enough patience for, they went for the photo booth. Out of all things, out of all exciting games they could be playing, Kenya wanted to get in the photo booth.

“No.” This time Zaizen didn’t even bother hiding his disgust. “I’m not getting in there.”

“Oh, come on!” Kenya pulled his arm, practically trying to drag him from his standing. “Just once! What’s a date without a commemoration?”

“Gross.”

“Your face is gross.”

“Kenya—“

“ _Pleeeeeeease._ ”

And once again, Zaizen gracefully fell for the puppy dog trap. He groaned and grumbled but Kenya was too busy laughing in satisfaction to even give one damn. The black haired was an inch close from punching the other straight in the face, but well, they said, relationships came with tolerance, and Zaizen was giving a hell lot of tolerance right now.

They crouched in the booth, Kenya busy tinkering about the options, asking Zaizen what he thought about this and that, of which Zaizen couldn’t care less about. Once again Kenya didn’t seem to mind, as in one swift motion he finished choosing and now the stupid looking pink bear (Cat? Mouse? Zaizen couldn’t tell what the hell that was) in the screen was telling them to get ready, in an annoyingly girly voice. Zaizen grumbled again, but Kenya threw his arm around his neck and pulled him close, swiftly placing a tiny, gentle kiss on his forehead before laughing again, turning his face to look at the camera.

Zaizen looked at him, feeling a little cheated that Kenya just decided to give him a kiss out of nowhere. So he leaned up, moving both arms so that they circle around Kenya’s neck, pressing his body against the other’s until they were uncomfortably close.

“Hikaru?”

“Ssh.” He continued to move in closer, their faces barely away from one another’s, with Kenya’s starting to turn that familiar shade of red again, and his standing weakening, almost tripping behind.

The countdown from the screen started, and by then Kenya had his back against the booth’s wall, slightly shuddering and definitely twitching from the closeness they were sharing.

Zaizen smirked, and he very much enjoyed the way Kenya shook below him. He cocked the older male’s head lower, rising up so that their faces, their lips and mouths and tongues pressed, crashed roughly against each other’s.

He could clearly hear Kenya grumbling out a mouthful of complains, but as much as Kenya had blissfully ignored his protests, Zaizen did the exact same thing. If Kenya felt that he had all the liberty to show him how he was going to be affectionate, then Zaizen wouldn’t do any less.

The countdown hit zero, and there were camera shutters coming from the machine.

Not that it mattered.

 

 


End file.
